NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India imported 2% more thermal coal in April-July from a year earlier to boost its power generation, the federal coal ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Overall coal imports, including coking coal mainly used by steel producers, rose 0.9% from a year ago to 90.51 million metric tons during the first four months of this fiscal year that began in April, said the statement.
India’s thermal power generation in April-July rose by 11.1% from a year ago to 483.82 billion units.
Consumption by imported coal-based power plants during the period rose by about 75% to 17.69 million tons, the coal ministry said.
India has the world’s fifth largest coal reserves but its local production lags demand as thermal power is used for over half of India’s 448 gigawatt installed capacity.
The nation’s coal production during April-July rose 9.6% from a year ago to 321.40 million tons.
India will raise its coal-fired power generation until 2035 to meet the country’s growing need, federal power minister Manohar Lal Khattar said earlier this week.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Nidhi Verma and Chizu Nomiyama)
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